Stream of Consciousness Saturday- Prompt – Wool

~ John W. Howell

A picture of a string with drops of water- the logo for SoCSThe machine diligently produces the mind-saving elixir that is the legal import of Columbia. The beans are ground, tamped, and scalded with boiling water to give me what I need most: that first cup of coffee. With it in hand, the clock is set to March 16th, 1924. The location is the port city of Fiume on the Adriatic Sea, and the time is set for two hours. The plunger is pulled, and we are there.

We arrive in time for a grand celebration: the city is formally annexed to Italy. Benito Mussolini is present, and King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy reads the annexation proclamation to cheering crowds.

The city’s autonomous municipal government had declared in late October 1918 that Fiume wanted to be annexed to Italy, explaining their reasoning with words like “national self-determination.” Italy had only entered WWI because of promises of territorial expansion along the Adriatic at Habsburg’s expense. Fiume is now named Rijeke and is the third-largest city in Croatia

Fiume was once labeled the center for fascism since Mussolini began his takeover of Italy from there. By pulling the wool over King Victor Emmanuel III’s eyes, he was able to take over the government.

As the crowds cheer, the alarm goes off, and a soft landing on the couch is the result. My text tone lets me know Linda Hill has sent this week’s prompt. The text reads: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “wool.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you want to see what other bloggers have done with the prompt, visit Linda’s post. Here is the link: https://lindaghill.com/2024/03/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-16-2024

Wool by John W. Howell © 2024

“What do you mean by pulling the wool over King Victor Emmanuel III’s eyes?”

“Mussolini was able to convince the king to place him in the position of head of the government. No election or anything. I would say that was a wool pull.”

“Okay, before your explanation, I envisioned Mussolini holding up a sheep.”

“Not a bad visual for this situation.”

“When did this happen?”

“It was in 1922. 30,000 citizens protested to the king demanding Mussolini be put in charge.”

“So he did.”

“Yup. The king felt his dynasty would be preserved by doing so.”

“Did it help?”

“Well, the king stepped down in 1946 after 46 years on the throne. I would say it helped.”

“All this talk of Kings makes me thirsty.”

“There’s no pulling the wool over my eyes. Did you order the Uber?”

“Yup. Right over there.”

“Wow. That’s a 1963 Studebaker Avanti.”

“It is a beauty, and we get to ride in it.”

“This might be the best ride yet.”

“As you can see, I haven’t been gathering wool.”

“No, I think you scored big on this one. Let’s go.

 

77 thoughts on “Stream of Consciousness Saturday- Prompt – Wool”

  3. You guys are stylin’ this week. Good bit of history, John. Whenever you need examples of wool-pulling, look toward politicians. Masters at the craft,

    I hope you have a great weekend. Give that new pup some exercise.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you, Gwen. I thought so too. I used to live in the South Bend area where the Avanti’s were made. The whole Studebaker story is a classic example of union and management ineptitude resulting in the destruction of a company.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Now THAT is an Uber.

    As for old Benito, I always refer to him as the Coors Light of dictators, relatively speaking mind you. He never had a chance once that asshole to the north took power in ’33.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. I am late reading your Thursday post about Twiggy’s playmate and had trouble commenting. They make an adorable pair – the Ying and the Yang! Kudos for giving another one a forever home.

    Like

  13. John, I’ve had two generous mugs of the “mind-saving elixir” and still feel foggy, LOL. But your great post is boosting the caffeine. 🙂 I got a kick out of the wool pulling. You know me, I’m drooling over that 1963 Studebaker Avanti. I wasn’t familiar with those. Fabulous car. Hugs.

    Like

  21. Great use of ‘wool’ … and here I thought you’d be writing about knitting a blanket out of wool yarn, or summat. That’s an Uber ride the likes of which I’ve never seen before! Happy Saturday … er, Sunday now!

    Liked by 1 person

  24. As a knitter, I was immediately attracted to the word wool 😉 I’m imagining the king with a wool cap that Mussolini ever so discreetly (or not) pulls down over his eyes. I’m glad to see the Ubers are getting more fancy and fun.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Well now, that was most interesting. I did wonder once in a while how Mussolini came to power. Now, I need to look up what happened to the Italian royal family.

    Hey, I’d like a ride in that car! Let’s go to the drive-in in it.
    I have a cool wool vintage blanket to curl up in!
    🐑 – sheep + wool – wel + x
    💋💋

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Ah.. I looked them up. The royal family still exists. The Italians don’t seem to celebrate their royals the way the Brits do.
        Not that it matters.
        Royal – Ryal + X

        Liked by 1 person

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